Sr. Research Associate, Cancer Vaccine Research

The Role:
Moderna Oncology is seeking a talented and motivated Senior Research Associate with experience in immuno-oncology research to support advancement of current and new cancer vaccine programs. The successful candidate will support preclinical research efforts to drive the design of next generation cancer vaccines as well as support clinical stage programs. Research areas of interest include immunology, vaccinology, and dendritic and T cell biology. This is a research position that requires critical thinking, flexibility, multitasking, technical expertise and the ability to learn new techniques. Applicants should be highly collaborative team players, excellent communicators and have a demonstrable track record of research accomplishments.
Here’s What You’ll Do:

• Faithfully document scientific work
• Independently plan experiments
• Collaborate with internal teams on initial testing of mRNA vaccines and various combinations
• Collect, archive, organize and analyze samples, including those from in vivo studies
• Contribute to reports, regulatory submissions and presentations
• Develop, optimize and validate cell-based assays to evaluate various mRNA therapeutics
• Analyze human and murine immune cells and responses, including co-culture assays of dendritic and T cells, via flow cytometry, ELISpot, and ELISA; assist new assay development and technological advancements to query vaccine function and effectiveness
• Execute and troubleshoot standard protocols, adapt new protocols into practice with little assistance, and query literature to incorporate additional assays as needed
• Additional experience with molecular biology techniques such as mammalian cell transfection and differentiation are strongly preferred
• Analyze, interpret and present data

Here’s What You’ll Bring to the Table:

• Expertise in cell-based assays (e.g. co-culture functional assays, multicolor flow cytometry, live cell imaging, ELISA, cell sorting, etc.)
• Capability to anticipate and recognize potential issues within experimental designs and effectively communicate alternatives
• Primary cell isolation and culture, particularly with hematopoietic cells
• Tissue/cell culture expertise:
• Protein quantification expertise:
• A minimum of a BS degree (MS preferred) and 2-5 years of experience with ex vivo immunological assays such as ELISpot, flow cytometry, as well as culturing immune cells in vitro
• Candidate will embrace our core values. You will be curious in exploring new paths for drug discovery, bold in proposing creative experimental designs and ideas. Will work collaboratively with multifunctional teams and will be relentless in pursuing successful outcomes that will expand the impact of our cancer vaccines on patients.
• Ability to manage multiple projects, prioritize work and meet tight deadlines
• Isolation of nucleic acids from cultured cells and harvested tissue
• Nucleic acid quantification expertise:
• Cell passaging, archiving, transfection and cell-based functional assays
• Protein quantification via Western, ELISA, MSD, Luminex-based assays
• Background in immunology, cell biology, vaccinology and/or oncology strongly desired
• Isolation of protein lysates from cultured cells and harvested tissue
• Quantification via qPCR, other formats such as bDNA-based approaches

Moderna is pleased to provide you and your family with a comprehensive and innovative suite of benefits, including:

• Dedicated care coordination support for our LGBTQ+ community
• Family care benefits, including subsidized back-up care options and on-demand tutoring
• Free premium access to fitness, nutrition, and mindfulness classes
• Exclusive preferred pricing on Peloton fitness equipment
• 401k match and Financial Planning tools
• Discretionary year-end shutdown
• Vacation, sick time and holidays
• Complimentary concierge service including home services research, travel booking, and entertainment requests
• Generous paid time off, including:
• Highly competitive and inclusive medical, dental and vision coverage options
• Paid sabbatical after 5 years; every 3 years thereafter
• Flexible Spending Accounts for medical expenses and dependent care expenses
• Moderna-paid Life, LTD and STD insurance coverages, as well as voluntary benefit options
• Location-specific perks and extras!
• Volunteer time to participate within your community
• Free parking or subsidized commuter passes
• Generous Paid Leave offerings, including 18 weeks of 100% paid parental leave for all new parents
• Lifestyle Spending Account funds to help you engage in personal enrichment and self-care activities
• Adoption and family-planning benefits

Candidates should be aware that Moderna currently maintains a policy requiring all US-based employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and receive a booster shot once eligible. Newly hired employees must be vaccinated and boosted prior to their employment start date. Moderna is an equal opportunity employer and will provide a reasonable accommodation to those unable to be vaccinated or receive a booster where it is not an undue hardship to the company to do so as provided under federal, state, and local law.
About Moderna
In over 10 years since its inception, Moderna has transformed from a research-stage company advancing programs in the field of messenger RNA (mRNA), to an enterprise with a diverse clinical portfolio of vaccines and therapeutics across seven modalities, a broad intellectual property portfolio in areas including mRNA and lipid nanoparticle formulation, and an integrated manufacturing plant that allows for rapid clinical and commercial production at scale. Moderna maintains alliances with a broad range of domestic and overseas government and commercial collaborators, which has allowed for the pursuit of both groundbreaking science and rapid scaling of manufacturing. Most recently, Moderna's capabilities have come together to allow the authorized use and approval of one of the earliest and most effective vaccines against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moderna's mRNA platform builds on continuous advances in basic and applied mRNA science, delivery technology and manufacturing, and has allowed the development of therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases and autoimmune diseases. Moderna has been named a top biopharmaceutical employer by Science for the past seven years. To learn more, visit www.modernatx.com.
Moderna is a smoke-free, alcohol-free and drug-free work environment.
Moderna is committed to equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination for all employees and qualified applicants without regard to a person’s race, color, gender, age, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation or any characteristic protected under applicable law. Moderna will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities, in accordance with applicable law.
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